Recently, there has been a rapid expansion in the production and use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for personal and commercial use. Adoption of the UAS is rapidly expanding as cost and availability have been lowered. Previously the domain of the military, usage of UASs has expanded to commercial and civilian industries. A UAS may include multiple elements including an aircraft (e.g., fixed wing, rotor-wing, lighter than air, hybrid, mini, micro, or nano aerial vehicle), a human(s), a payload(s), control(s), and communications. The UAS subsumes the UAV class as a UAV may be a component of a UAS and can include a fixed-wing airplane, a helicopter, a multi-rotor copter drone, a balloon, a dirigible, a tethered dirigible or blimp, a zeppelin, or a stationary or mobile airship. UAVs may also be called drones, unmanned aircraft systems, remotely piloted aerial vehicles (RPAV), remote piloted aircraft systems (RPDA), or unmanned aircraft (UA).
The UAS may be configured to perform a multitude of tasks ranging from flying-for-fun to large equipment inspection to remote sensing of the landscape. While a user, be it an individual or an organization, may benefit from the use of a UAS, there are a number of reasons why it is often difficult to successfully accomplish a task. As one example, a UAS has multiple variables that must be assessed for successful task (or mission) completion. This has traditionally required a UAS mission planner(s) to determine the parameters of a mission to ensure successful planning, staging, launching, flight, and recovery. The planner must consider if all components of the UAS are properly connected and configured, if all hardware and software are compatible, and account for the complexity of the system. The planner must also determine the data set acquisition and the methods of collecting data, which may include the following: the dataset is identified; a method is devised to collect the data considering which sensors can successfully acquire the goal; the UAS platform for acquisition is identified considering size, weight, power, endurance and other factors necessary for a successful mission; and the feasibility of collection is assessed as the planner determines if the UAS is technologically capable and fiscally possible.
The difficulties associated with successful UAS operation and mission completion are amplified when considering the multiple variables for success. As one non-limiting example for illustrative purposes, each type of UAV (e.g., a component of the UAS) has benefits and drawbacks that must be balanced for a successful mission. A fixed wing aircraft may have a longer flight time and a higher altitude, but launch and recovery can be logistically complicated and require higher skills or resources (e.g., a landing strip, a catapult or a vehicle or hand launch, and so on). Rotor wing aircraft, in contrast, may easily take off and land utilizing vertical technology (such as vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) technology) but are limited to a lower altitude and provide less flight distance. Users can be overwhelmed by all of the considerations and variables for a successful UAV mission. As a further non-limiting example, payload variables must also be calculated. A payload may include aerial remote sensing, cargo, weapons, surveillance, communications, or a combination of multiple payloads. Sensors may be combined into a single payload or a payload may be dispensable like pesticides or dispersants, and payloads may vary over the mission or task. A user must determine the payload capacity and the sensors to accomplish the task.
As the availability and adoption of UASs have increased, the role of the mission planner has expanded from highly skilled professionals to include hobbyists and non-professionals. A novice may purchase a UAS and attempt to accomplish a mission, such as data acquisition. However, without adequate knowledge of the complexity of the system and accounting for the multitude of variables required for successful task(s), novice and even very skilled users may experience frustration, destruction or damage of aircraft, lost aircraft, loss of time, loss of resources, failure to accomplish a task, and lack of safety and accidents.
There has been some initial efforts and discussions regarding increasing UAV flexibility by utilizing mission dependent modules, such as those found in WO 2015073687, DE 102013000409A1, DE 102008014853A1 (and B4), and DE 102006013402. While useful, these initial works generally describe combining modules, but, in all cases, the burdens of determining the correct components for a task, combining the modules in the correct arrangement for operation, and maintaining airworthiness all fall to the user. Size of the drone and UAV type are also restrictive parameters in the mentioned prior works on increasing UAV flexibility.
One researcher has proposed a system and software to increase the flexibility of a UAV (e.g., as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,665,594 and 6,873,886 for plug-and-play payload modules). In this system, each module has its own software that uploads to a central onboard computer that networks to the human ground operation computer. While aiding in calculating payloads for a UAV, the suggested system does not solve many of the fundamental difficulties of the UAS including requiring a user to choose the correct components and generate a configuration to accomplish a particular task or complete a desired mission.